The present invention relates to cutting compressible material such as batting, and more particularly, to a wheel cutter for cutting, wherein the batting has a relaxed thickness greater than a radius of a cutting wheel. The present invention contemplates locally compressing the batting in the area of the cutting by the wheel cutter.
Many insulated garments, sleeping bags, footwear and the like are filled with down while others use as insulating materials such things as cotton batting, kapok, various synthetic fibers and the like. These insulating materials are often manufactured or sold in the form of thick compressible sheets or mats which must be precut to a particular size and shape before being sewn or otherwise fastened between the two layers of fabric which will ultimately cover same, both inside and out.
Polyester fiberfill filling material (sometimes referred to as polyester fiberfill) has become well accepted as a reasonably inexpensive filling and/or insulating material especially for pillows, and also for cushions and other furnishing materials, including other bedding materials, such as sleeping bags, mattress pads, quilts and comforters and including duvets, and in apparel, such as parkas and other insulated articles of apparel, because of its bulk filling power, aesthetic qualities and various advantages over other filling materials, and is now manufactured and used in large quantities commercially.
The filled articles include articles of apparel, such as parkas and other insulated or insulating articles of apparel, pillows, bedding materials (sometimes referred to as sleep products) other than pillows, including mattress pads, comforters and quilts including duvets, and sleeping bags and other filled articles suitable for camping purposes, for example, furnishing articles, such as cushions, xe2x80x9cthrow pillowsxe2x80x9d (which are not necessarily intended for use as bedding materials), and filled furniture itself, toys and, indeed, any articles that can be filled with a batting such as polyester fiberfill. While these items may employ additional filling material they rely in part upon the batting.
In addition to these insulating materials, various foams are often used as cushioning, wherein the foam is manufactured in slabs which must be cut prior to use.
Cutting these thick compressible mats, especially more than one at a time, poses certain problems that do not admit to an easy solution. Standard self-contained electric powered fabric cutting tools are generally unable to effectively cut a single sheet or a stack of such compressible material because, ordinarily, the means used to hold the pattern down tightly against the sheet or stack interferes with the movement of the cutting tool.
Another problem in such an operation is the inordinately long set-up time usually required to arrange and fasten down the patterns for cutting different shaped pieces. It is not uncommon, for example, to cut enough pieces to make, say a dozen to a hundred finished articles in a single operation taking, perhaps, only a few minutes. At this rate, a sizable inventory can be built up in a short period of time on a given item and, therefore, it becomes necessary to change the set up so that a different size of the same article or a different one altogether can be cut. It is not uncommon to find that the set-up time required to change over to a different product or even a different size in the same product exceeds the cutting time.
Prior systems often employ a vacuum table to retain the batting. However, as the batting does not create a sufficient pressure differential, a plastic (air impervious) sheet is disposed over the batting. The vacuum draws the plastic sheet down, thereby compressing the batting and allowing the material to be cut. This procedure requires extra time in disposing the plastic sheet over the batting prior to cutting. In addition, the plastic sheet is sacrificial and adds cost to the process. Once a plastic sheet is used it must be thrown out or recycled.
Therefore, the need exists for an apparatus for efficiently cutting batting. A need also exists for cutting the batting without requiring extensive layout or hold down procedures. The need also exists for an apparatus that accommodates a relatively large variance in batting thickness, as well as allows for ready configuration to accommodate substantially different batting thickness.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for cutting batting with a wheel cutter, and particularly, with a wheel cutter having a radius which is less than the thickness of uncompressed batting.
Generally, the present invention provides a cutting assembly having a support surface for supporting a portion of the batting to be cut. The cutter assembly is carried by a carriage to be moveable with respect to the support surface and engage a wheel cutter with the support surface. The wheel cutter has a radius which is less than the thickness of the batting and is generally substantially less than the thickness of the batting.
The carriage assembly includes a compressor guide adjacent the wheel cutter for movement with the wheel cutter and locally compressing the batting to a thickness less than a radius of the wheel cutter. In an advantageous configuration, the compressor guide is adjustable with respect to its spacing from the support surface. Thus, the cutting assembly may cut any of a variety of batting thicknesses or a varying batting thickness. Preferably, the compressor guide is a compressor wheel rotatably mounted to the carriage and non-concentric with the wheel cutter. In one configuration, the compressor guide includes a pair of compressor wheels rotatably mounted to the carriage to locate the wheel cutter therebetween.
In use, the present invention compresses the batting in front of the leading edge of the wheel cutter to a thickness less than radius of the wheel cutter such that upon passage of the wheel cutter, the batting has a thickness less than the radius of the wheel cutter and the wheel cutter can effectively severe the compressed batting.